Writing A Novel? You Need A Team! – Recovered

Finding teammates to help you finish a novel isn’t difficult. Here’s a list of a few things I did that really brought my story up to the next level and help me publicize my novel:

Planned the entire story out in my mind.

Talked on Skype with a beautiful friend 300 miles away that drilled me on the theories in my novel. She asked who? What? When? Where? Why? When I was done answering, all the holes in my story were filled.

Searched for beta-readers: Though my reader fell off the map and stopped emailing me, her initial advice was marvelous. Hearing the positive reinforcement encouraged me to keep going.

Invested in an editor: Of all the things I’ve done for my novel, that’s the best overall. My editor is responsive and supportive. She even helps out with my blog and other ventures I have. She’s the key to this entire production.

Invested in a great cover art: I love the wonderful souls that worked on my cover. That cover alone could sell itself. Besides an editor, that’s the best investment I made. The sight of my cover could bring a tear to my eye. *Joy*

Found reviewers: I have two people sitting with the first half of my book, waiting on the next part. They’ve already agreed to write a review of the novel on it’s first week.

Marketed early: My network is huge on Facebook. I contacted all my friends and family and asked that they publicize the book for me. I’ve already let 400 people know about my novel and 100 have agreed to purchase it on it’s first day. I also connect with authors/readers on Goodreads, Kindleboards, and various blogs.

Get more readers: My wife reads the novel with me. She often asks that I read it to her, and that’s fine. She and I read it to discover any mistakes I may have written after responding to my editor’s advice.

Read it yourself one last time: I use my PDF reader to review my work. There’s a “Read Out Loud” program that reads the book word-for-word. Because I often read what I meant to write, I need the reader to say things exactly as they appear. My eyes would skip over problems. It’s been really helpful.

Resources for writers:

Reviewers – You can find professional reviews on the bottom left portion of my website.

Foxit PDF reader 5.1 – It’s a bit better than Adobe Reader if you’re using a PC. I love my Adobe reader on the Mac, but when my wife’s using it, I switch to Foxit. Plus it allows you to edit your PDF. You can add images, sounds, or more pages. You must buy that stuff on Adobe.

Twitter – Market yourself here, but don’t post links more than connecting with people. Keep a 20% ratio with the bulk of your comments helping you connect with other authors and readers.

Word Frequency Counter – You can find these online. They show how often you overuse words. Don’t pay attention to I, the, he, she, etc. But concentrate on how much you use around, say, towards, however, and other things that may annoy readers.

How to ‘say’ ‘said’ – enter something similar in a Google search and discover how many ways you can change, “He said, she says.”

If I think of anything else I’ll add a new post. Until then, I hope this helps.

Thank you to everyone helping support Barcode. We’re less than a month away from the official release. Until then, check out the first for chapters for free!